LIVERPOOL’S famous Everyman theatre is forging ahead with redevelopment plans after national arts bosses gave the go ahead for a major £12.8m grant.

Theatre chiefs today welcomed the Arts Council England funding which will go towards the £28m cost of transforming the venue for the 21st century.

Professor Michael Brown, chairman of the Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust which runs the theatre, said: “The new Everyman will be a powerful signal that Capital of Culture 2008 was not an end in itself but the beginning of a new era for this uniquely creative city.”

Artistic director Gemma Bodinetz added: “This amazing news will allow us to create a new home for the extraordinary range of talent in this city, and to give Liverpool the Everyman it deserves.”

The Trust needs to find £24m to complete the Everyman plans.

It is also bidding for £6m from the European Regional Development Fund and £3m Northwest Regional Development Agency core funding and confirming in-kind support from Liverpool City Council.

The current theatre, which was created in 1964 in a converted chapel on Hope Street, will be demolished and new improved facilities built on the same site including improved technical and rehearsal space, new front-of-house facilities and the recreation of the popular bistro.

A new 400-seater auditorium will be designed to retain the spirit of the current theatre.

Redevelopment is likely to begin in spring 2011 and the new Everyman will open in 2013.

Liverpool council leader Warren Bradley said: “The Everyman has been at the cutting edge of British theatre for the past 40 years but as a venue it has fallen behind the times.

“This funding from Arts Council England is a fantastic vote of confidence in the plans to create a venue that will ensure that theatre continues to nurture writers and actors that will keep audiences riveted in comfort and style.''